The invention relates to patient monitoring systems and particularly to patient monitoring systems that allow the patient to ambulate through the care unit of a clinical facility.
Most patient monitoring systems that allow a patient to ambulate through a care unit in a clinical facility use telemetry-based communication schemes. In its most common form, a patient wears a telemetry transmitter attached to the patient using common ECG electrodes. The telemetry transmitter acquires an ECG signal, conducts a nominal amount of filtering on the ECG signal, and transmits the ECG signal to an antenna array, typically located in the ceiling of the care unit. The ECG signal is conducted through the antenna array to a telemetry receiver, which in turn, is connected to a central station that analyzes and displays the ECG information for viewing and evaluation by the clinicians staffing the care units.
However, it is frequently desirable to be able to quickly locate the patient in a care unit if circumstances indicate that there is a problem with the patient. In other cases, it is desirable to be able to send data back from the central station to the telemetry transmitter.